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| The wetland is habitat to the 'alae'ula, an endangered bird endemic to Hawaii. |
Hāwea heiau and Keawawa wetland narrowly avoided development. The land was once slated to become a private playground for wealthy residents of a nearby luxury condo project.
Hāwea heiau is recorded in more than one old publication. The 1906 Thrum's Almanac said nothing remained of it, while J. Gilbert McAllister's "Archaeology of Oahu", originally published in 1933, reported only the western portion of the heiau remained because stones had been taken from the heiau to reconstruct Maunalua fishpond (also known as Keahupua O Maunalua or Kuapa Pond). A 2001 Star Bulletin article (6/17/01, Nelson Daranciang) showed the heiau northeast of its presently reported location closer to Kaluanui Road "mauka of the Hawaii Kai Post Office on the side of the hill" and "mauka of Kaluanui Road" and said the heiau was gone. Bishop Museum archaeologists said "there was just not enough material there or knowledge of what had existed for a restoration of the heiau". McAllister's book located Hāwea on a map of Oahu in this general area, but the map lacked detail to accurately pinpoint its historic location. An archaeological site containing petroglyphs "on a plateau measuring 80 feet by 100 feet at about 20-foot elevation" was found "makai of the post office" in a 1994 survey. Perhaps they found Hāwea!
Hāwea is said to have been part of a larger fishing village. In addition to the heiau, which may have been a fishing shrine (not sure), the site contains an ancient coconut grove, well, petroglyphs, rock walls, and remnant wetland habitat for the endangered native bird 'alae'ula (Hawaiian moorhen) and other native wetland species.
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| Ancient coconut grove at the heiau. |
Livable Hawaii Kai Hui (LHKH), with the help of Trust for Public Land, acquired the property and has developed and is now implementing a master plan to restore the site. They have been maintaining the site since 2009.
Visit this site and learn more about and/or participate in the restoration work happening there by contacting Livable Hawaii Kai Hui. Workdays are currently every second Saturday from 8:30 am to noon. They are flexible about the time and work commitment, which includes a generous primer about the history of this place.
Hawaii Kai was radically transformed when it was developed by Henry J. Kaiser. You can read about what it took to develop Hawaii Kai here and then see photos and sketches of what the area looked like long ago here.
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| Old and new. |
LHKH says Maunalua fishpond was the largest fishpond in the state. An 1851 map showed the pond as 523 acres, and a 1921 map describes the pond as 301 acres of water and 125 acres of swamp. Mahoe, great grandmother of Makea Napahi, is said to have started construction of the pond, with menehune finishing it in one night. Someone from Kamehameha Schools said people used to fish from canoes here, and when the pond was built the village "declined" (1). There is supposedly an underground tunnel that allows fish to travel between Maunalua and Kaelepulu pond in Kailua such that fish that have disappeared from Maunalua have appeared in Kailua, and vice versa. This phenomenon is said to also exist between Kualoa and Kahana ponds. Hawaii Business reported that Kaiser shrunk the pond from 500 to 300 acres and dredged it to a constant depth of seven feet.
(1) McAllister as described below is the source of most information in this paragraph.
Sources/more information:
"Archaeology of Oahu" by J. Gilbert McAllister (1985 reprint of 1933 Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 104)
Star Bulletin article
1906 Thrum's
KHON2 2014 coverage
Trust for Public Land